Here we go again!!! Arc Flashlight battery runtime test- round 2.

OK it`s time for round 2 of the great Arc Flashlight runtime test. In the blue corner....Duracell Ultra. In the red corner....regular Duracell alkaline.

Here for those who missed it or can`t be bothered to try and find it elsewhere, are the results of the Ultra`s endurance test last week...

(time....solar cell current....time elapsed....current drop.)
9.35........56.2uA......0h00......-0.0
10.05......53.2uA......0h30......-3.0
10.35......52.0uA......1h00......-1.2
11.05......51.1uA......1h30......-0.9
11.35......49.3uA......2h00......-1.8
12.05......47.5uA......2h30......-1.8
12.35......45.8uA......3h00......-1.7
1.05........43.3uA......3h30......-2.5
1.35........39.9uA......4h00......-3.4
2.05........37.2uA......4h30......-2.7
2.35........34.3uA......5h00......-2.9
3.05........32.7uA......5h30......-1.6
3.35........28.9uA......6h00......-3.8 (can I go to sleep yet?)
3.50........24.3uA......6h15......-4.6 It`s dropping faster now but still beats the Infinity...
4.05........18.1uA......6h30......-6.2 and its still going down...about the same as the Infinity now.
4.20........14.4uA......6h45......-3.7
4.35........11.0uA......7h00......-3.4 End of test. Light is dim but still useful up close for reading, etc.
It would have easilly gone on longer but I couldn`t stay awake any longer and went to sleep!


And the graph-




So- now, round 2 is underway. Ignore the actual microamps figures, the test setup is the same but it`s highly unlikely I got everything set up perfectly the same so what I will do when it`s all over is convert the figures to percentage drop values, this will allow the 2 tests to be compared. The battery was fresh out of the pack with less than a minute`s worth of use. The Ultra had a little more use, because it started flickering and I had to restart the test so the initial drop may have been less than with a brand new one.

Here we go then...

(time....cell current....elapsed....drop.)
9.15........70.2uA......0h00m......-0.0
9.45........63.1uA......0h30m......-7.1
10.15......60.7uA......1h00m......-2.4
10.45......58.8uA......1h30m......-1.9
11.15......56.9uA......2h00m......-1.9
11.45......55.2uA......2h30m......-1.7
12.15......53.3uA......3h00m......-1.9
12.45......50.5uA......3h30m......-2.8
1.15........47.5uA......4h00m......-3.0
1.45........44.5uA......4h30m......-3.0
2.15........41.7uA......5h00m......-2.8
2.45........39.8uA......5h30m......-1.9
3.15........35.9uA......6h00m......-3.9
3.30........33.2uA......6h15m......-2.7
3.45........30.5uA......6h30m......-2.7
4.00........25.1uA......6h45m......-5.4 - dropped fast this last 15 mins- Infinity brightness now.
4.15........15.2uA......7h00m......-9.9 - sinking fast, Infinity noticeably brighter now.
4.30........03.0uA......7h15m......-12.2 - pretty much dead.
4.45........01.7........7h30m......-1.3 - just a dim glow now, not much good for anything.

I had a thought about videotaping the latter hours of the test- something important about video systems is that you need video tape, and my spare tapes are behind the PC monitor.....and solar cell! I can`t touch them without spoiling the test. D`oh! (more Homer Simpson impressions!!) I had to stay up for the duration after all .

Craig you are not alone in losing sleep for science and flashlights.....


Right then. It`s time for me to head off to sleep. Graphs tomorrow! I`ll leave analysis till then.

Whoo Hoo!!! (In my best Homer Simpson impression.) Let the games begin!!!

Oh by the way- I remembered to measure the current draw at the start this time- it was 192mA.

when I repeat these tests with the production model I`ll use a different panel if I can get one, and also leave the current-monitoring test rig in place too- it would be interesting to see how the inverter/LED performs. I may try and monitor battery voltage too but I`m kind of running out of meters by then unless I use my 1960s vintage AVO analogue meter. It wouldn`t show up too clearly on a video though since I`d have to have 3 meters and a clock on the screen all at once. I`ll probably borrow a meter from work to do that with.

Awww screw it.

Duracell Ultra, same photocell & meter.
Initial current: 213mA

5:15pm - 4.10mA
5:30pm - 3.85mA
5:45pm - 3.69mA. Flashlight head is not warming up.
6:00pm - 3.62mA

6:30pm - 3.48mA
7:00pm - 3.42mA
7:30pm - 3.32mA
8:00pm - 3.18mA
8:30pm - 3.07mA
9:00pm - 2.76mA
9:30pm - 2.30mA

I can't see the flushed baby alligators yet, but they're down there somewhere...
Now that the decline is steepening a bit, I'll reduce the interval to 15 mins.

9:45pm - 2.06mA
10:00pm - 0.30mA
10:15pm - 0.16mA

Looks like it tanked between 9:45 and 10:00 while I wasn't watching...
Another excellent case for the use of video equipment to document this stuff.

That should just about do in my $1 Duracell Ultra, dated 2007, and bought at the local Fred Meyer a few days ago.

Great fun!

I will be checking in throughout the evening (tonight's the night that the PCBs are assembled by the robotic "pick and place" machine).

Peter

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:
I have just remembered- something important about video systems is that you need video tape, and my spare tapes are behind the PC monitor.....and solar cell

Craig you are not alone in losing sleep for science and flashlights.....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't feel too bad... there's a book I really, really need and I just found it... holding up my testing apparatus!

If I attempt to move or remove it, there goes the test, right down the drain.

I'm still looking for the pieces of my webcam, but I'm not having much luck.
Guess I'd better put on a pot of coffee.

For Peter (who just asked) and anyone else- at the 5h 30 mark mine`s still pre-dive and virtually the same brightness as my white Photon after a minute of "resting time". My Photon doesn`t have brand new batts but it`s still almost new.

Craig, Chris, Brock, Brad.....

Is the Radio Shack Solar cell the new, defacto standard for measuring light output?

I'm still pretty amazed at how well the Arc utilizes a single AAA, but I'm really curious now at what results could be achieved with the top-notch LED that Gransee mentioned the other day. I wonder if it would be brighter than a Photon without the Photon's 1 minute "resting period" and still get close to the same run-time from an ordinary alkaline battery. I can just see the mods that will result once people start getting their Arcs in.

Is the Radio Shack Solar cell the new, defacto standard for measuring light output

Dunno. Someone send me one and I`ll see Be nice to have an agreed standard though for consistency between us testers. It just gets awkward when one of us lives in the UK.

I`m using a far-from-ideal panel out of a solar powered garden light, it`s not the best but it does the job for now. I havn`t seen any of my favourite suppliers here in the UK stocking a similar panel to Craig`s, and I doubt Radio Shack ship overseas (plus the UK version of radio shack, Tandys, closed the nearest store to here and I don`t know where any others are, within a bus-ride`s distance away), so I guess I`ll have to keep looking...

6h45. It`s really dropped fast and now is almost exactly the same as my (blue anodised) white Infinity with a brand new Energizer in it. I`d say the dive started at 6h30 but I`m useless at numbers on their own so let`s wait till I get the graph made before comparing.

I`ll also plot graphs of Craig`s data if you like? It`s easy enough.


You know I think it`s performed better with the regular Duracell- but I wonder how old the Ultra was and what effect my 10-15 minutes total initial run time had on it? Remember, the first test had a false start when it flickered after 5 mins and I started again..

4.06 and it`s now at 20.4. The Infinity`s a bit brighter than it now.

I can just see the mods that will result once people start getting their Arcs in.

If the production models are built the same way as the prototype, you`d have a hard time taking it apart. The head appears to be solidly potted and to get the led out would involve butchery similar to that we`ve seen in an older thread with Infinitys. Then you lose your nice step up cct and are forced to use a 23A 12 volt cell+resistor or something similar, with your new rank-S led, defeating the point of the excersize.

Nope we`ll have to wait and see if the "AAA Arc Gen-II" shows up in the future.

Don`t worry though, you will be impressed with the original Arc!

Chris: Yeah, I wonder how much the age of the batteries will tie into the results. It seems that a year or two on an alkaline does indeed make a significant (however small) difference on the test. Hmm…

"Don`t worry though, you will be impressed with the original Arc!"

Sounds encouraging. I can't wait till I can get one and join the party. I can't remember if this has been answered before, but how white is the beam produced on the Arc? Is it a true white, or is it tinged badly with blue? Sorry for asking again if this has already been discussed. I must have missed it if it was.

how white is the beam produced on the Arc? Is it a true white, or is it tinged badly with blue?

Mine is very blue/violet-tinted but I`ve read somewhere that the production models leds come from 2 different "B" rank batches, some are blueish and some are slightly greeny but may probably be more white (my Luxeon sample is a tiny bit greeny but a pleasent colour nonetheless). I`d actually like to see both to compare them- even if Nichia classes them as the same brightness rank, the human eye can percieve some colours to be brighter than others so it would be interesting to find out which is best or are they both the same.....

Chris, That's where I was heading. ESP again...

If you can all agree what standard should be used, it would have more importance to all of us flashaholics.

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I personally would much much prefer the rank-S led in the hopes that it would be closer to a true white (and maybe a little brighter to). That way your eyes would not play tricks on you when you are reading something and need to see in true color. Gransee: How about it? Later on can we pay a little extra and get a S-Rank LED? Here's hoping.

Well 8-1/2 hours on and it`s as good as dead. It may keep on glowing for a while yet but the light is of little use other than perhaps a marker.

I`ll get graphs made up tomorrow, of tonights tests. Then we will see the difference between normal and Ultras.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gadget:
Craig, Chris, Brock, Brad.....

Is the Radio Shack Solar cell the new, defacto standard for measuring light output?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I got mine from Don Klipstein, and he says it's the plain old Rat Shack variety of "satellite grade solar cell".

Let me sweep his site really quickly and see if I come up with anything before the next test interval... (searching...)
nope, I couldn't find anything on his site or in what survived of my archived e-mail.
With 7 minutes left before the next interval, let's check my Windows trash can... (now dumpster diving...) nope, looks like the trash is corrupted.

What I know of the cell is that it comes without leads, and requires the user to solder to both sides. A strip on the lower front face and a grid pattern on the back of the cell serve as the electrical connections.
Soldering to the back appears to have been very tricky, and very nearly disasterous as well. Lots of blob action going on back there, apparently in hopes that it would stick in at least one place.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:

I`ll also plot graphs of Craig`s data if you like? It`s easy enough.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What do you use to do that with?
I could probably do it in NeoPaint, but it would take a few hours to get anything even closely resembling yours...